Problem Description:
In the corporate network only, I can’t pass the Wi-Fi connection step in the Ubuntu installer.
I select our corporate network name. For my test, the Network team has disabled the captive portal requirement, so I have Internet without authentication.
The Setup window hangs on the next button; it waits for the network connection and doesn’t give me the option to navigate to the next step.
I can see in the system tray that the Wi-Fi icon shows a connected status.
I can close the installer window and use Ubuntu live session, and the internet is accessible, I can use Firefox for web surfing, but if I start the installer again, it will hang again on the same step.
We can’t find the network resource that must be allowed on the firewall to pass this step.
If I connect to my shared internet from my phone, which is not under the corporate firewall, the installer will pass this step without any issue.
My target is not to find a workaround, but to find the resource that is necessary to allow the firewall to provide the best user experience in our company.
That’s not a solution. I need to install with a network connection, and on the next step, we are using Autoinstall.yaml, to preconfigure the OS, install all updates, the OEM kernel if available, and some software.
In my case, a network connection is a requirement.
Not sure if your issue is the same, because your description seems to suggest a different manifestation (spinning on network setup). But there’s a hint, which resources are being checked.
Other than that, I can only suggest to pull out the big gun:
sudo apt install wireshark
You can install software in the live session; will be installed to volatile tmpfs storage.
Then sniff out the outbound requests. Or check with your firewall what it rejects/drops. If you need the IP of the live session:
ip address
It’s possible that’s unrelated. You can setup the network connection by other means, restart the installer app, and just proceed with offline mode. The only implications of online mode, I know of:
restricted drivers and codecs (license prohibits distribution on the ISO) can be downloaded and installed during installation
install security updates instead of the packages on ISO, where applicable
Autoinstall shouldn’t be effected, I reckon.
Or try setting up the network, restart the installer app, and click the wireless connection, when asked. Since it will already be set up, there should be no obstacle.
Thanks for this, I will test it.
I already tried Wireshark; everything works as expected. The only drops I can see are broadcast packets.
Since I’m using the Autoinstall.yaml, after the connection to the internet, I can select the Don’t connect to Internet option, enter the URL of my Autoinstall.yaml, and it will configure the installer to use the Internet, update, and install everything that I need.
I want to highlight that my target is achieving the best “User Experience“, I didn’t want any workaround suggestions, as you can see, I already have it.
My question is simple: how to make it work as it must?
It is more than a simple user has a UI where he must connect to Wi-Fi AP and move next, why do I need to provide a workaround here?
I need to find a documented way to allow this setup to work in the corporate network, so the user will have the best experience
You’re not likely to find it here. This is community support and every person that has responded has been a volunteer. Enterprise-level support needs to be purchased at Enterprise open source support | Ubuntu. If you already have that level, contact Canonical.